The 100 greatest BMWs ever

We take a look at the best BMWs ever to emerge from Munich.

Andrew Frankel Autocar

by Andrew Frankel

20 April 2018

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2017 saw the 90th anniversary of BMW building its first road car.

Join us as we celebrate one of Germany's great car companies, and salute its finest models over the years. At the end, we name the five cars that we think are the very best.
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1927: 3/15 Dixi

BMW started life making aero-engines so the Dixi was the first BMW-built car. However it wasn’t a BMW, but an Austin Seven, built under licence with British components. Still, we’ve all got to start somewhere.
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1933: 303 saloon

Not quite the first proper BMW, but easily the most significant of the early cars introducing, as it did, both the six cylinder engine and the kidney grille that is the cornerstone of the marque’s identity to this day.
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1934: 315/1

BMW’s first performance roadster, the Z4 of its era and the father of the 328.
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1937: 327

An attractive and successful tourer, but lacking the sex appeal of the 328.
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1940: 328 Mille Miglia

The Mille Miglia slayed giants outright using just 2-litres but a groundbreaking aerodynamic body.
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1949: 340

The first post-war BMW.
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1954: 502

BMW’s first V8, providing genuine 100mph in a proper luxury car.
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1955: Isetta

Perhaps the best of the bubbles, this BMW built and powered version of Renzo Rivolta’s classic design saw BMW through its most troubled times.
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1956: 503 cabriolet

A more civilised but less striking version of the 503. Lovely, but too heavy and expensive to succeed.
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1956: 507

BMW’s answer to the Mercedes 300SL. If it had been as good to drive as it was to look at, maybe it would have made our top five. But despite having a bigger engine with more cylinders (a 3.2-litre V8) power and performance were never in the same league as that of the Benz. Sales were slow, making cars incredibly valuable today. This is the car BMW was trying to emulate when it built the Z8.
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1957: 600

A four seat Isetta that looked good and went well. Had its introduction not coincided with that of Dante Giacosa’s game-changing Fiat 500 it might have fared a whole lot better in the market place than it did.
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1959: 700

Odd looking but innovative, the rear-engined, monocoque 700 saved BMW when the failures of the 1950s looked likely to bankrupt the company.
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1962: 3200CS

The last of the old school BMWs. Attractive but obsolete on introduction.
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1962: 1500

The first of the new school BMWs. The journey that led to your 3-series started right here, making this one of most critically important cars in the company’s history. Had it failed, few doubt that BMW would have gone down with it. In fact it was a roaring success. This is where the Hofmeister kink came from too.
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1964: 1800 Ti/SA

Looked like your gran should drive it, but on track it could humble Lotus Cortinas.
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1966: 1602

Smaller, lighter and better to drive than the 1500, the two door 1602 built substantially on its big brother’s success.
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1968: E3 New Six

The classic big BMW saloon and a return to silken smooth six cylinder engines. E numbers started here.
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1971: 2002 Tii

BMW’s first, small, fast saloon and one of its very best.
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1971: E9 3.0CSi

Almost as good as a bat for a fraction of the money.
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1972: E9 3.0CSL

The iconic coupe BMW of its era. Similar to the CSi but with light panels and an aluminium bonnet, bootlid and doors. Designed to homologate the racing version, it became a cult car in its own right, never more so than when BMW fitted a huge rear wing, deep front spoiler and fins on the bonnet to homologate development parts for the racer. These are the components that earned it the Batmobile title.
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1973: E9 3.0CSL ‘Batmobile’

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the European Touring car championship was the premier tin top series in the world. And from 1973 to 1979 the Bat won all but one of them. Enough said.
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1974: 2002 Turbo

Comically unreliable, absurd lag from pioneering turbo motor, ridiculously tricky to drive fast still utterly loveable. Worth it for the mirror ‘Turbo’ logo on the front spoiler alone.
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1975: E3 3.3Li

BMW’s best big saloon until the current 7-series.
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1976: E24 633CSi

The first Six Series and a truly delightful GT.
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1978: E12 528i

Best of the ‘normal’ first generation 5 Series.
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1979: E23 745i

A turbocharged 7 Series, sadly only sold in left-hand-drive markets because the turbo would have got in the way of the right-hand-drive steering box.
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1979: E21 323i

The 3 Series entered service in 1975, but it was four years later that the fun really began, right here with the powerful 323i and its hilarious handling.
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1979: Procar

The racing M1, used for two seasons as dodgems by F1 drivers as Grand Prix curtain raisers.
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1980: E12 M535i

The fun starts to get serious. A 3.5-litre engine with a Motorsport tuned chassis.
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1981: E28 520i

Slow, but super smooth second generation 5 Series.
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1983: E24 M635CSi

One of BMW’s finest ever: a tuned M1 engine in the brilliant 6-series chassis. A driving and Grand Touring dream.
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1984: 635CSi DTM

Won the first ever DTM championship, driven by Volker Strycek.
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1985: E28 M5

Perhaps BMW’s greatest Q-car, a 286bhp missile that looked very little different to a 520i. A world class wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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1987: E30 325i Touring

A rubbish estate, but most were too busy having fun to care.
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1987: E32 750i

The first V12 7 Series, packing more computing power than that which took man to the moon.
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1988: E34 535i

The most impressive and entertaining standard sports saloon of its era.
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1989: E30 M3

Won the DTM with Roberto Ravaglia at the wheel and spawned a limited edition road car, as pictured in our main feature.
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1989: Z1

Worth it for the doors all by themselves.
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1990: E36 318i

Improved the lot of the budget conscious long distance driver like few before or since.
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1991: E34 M5

Still rated by many as the best M5, ourselves included. Another close contender for the top five.
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1991: E30 M3 Evolution 2

The ultimate original M3 with a 2.5-litre motor. Rare and deservedly expensive.
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1991: E36 318iS

Owners will tell you it’s a junior M3. And they’d be right.
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1992: E34 M5 Touring

The original M5 estate, left hand drive only. A rare pleasure.
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1992: E31 850 CSi

The Eight wasn’t great, but this was the best of them.
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1993: E34 540i

BMW’s first modern V8 and the first sign the company was weaning itself off the straight six. We thought we might not like it. We thought wrong.
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1994: E36 325TDS

An incredibly important car, because it was the first serious, high performance diesel to go on sale. Acceleration and mechanical refinement illuminated a whole new world of possibilities for diesel, most of which we have not even dreamt of until this time.
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1994: E36 318Ti Compact

Based on BMW’s first proper hatch, an under-rated and sparkling thing to drive.
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1994: E36 M3 saloon

Following the E30 act was never going to be easy and despite its six cylinders and additional power, this was a mixed effort. We had to wait for the…
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1995: E36 M3 Evolution

…Evo version to see how it should really have been done all along.
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1998: E39 M5

Ah, the one with the 5-litre V8. So well balanced we used it for the Sideways Challenge, yet a superb long distance weapon too.
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1998: Z3 M Coupe

The only Z3 we really liked. Because it was mad.
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1998: E46 320d

The first 320d, and a new level of ability for four cylinder diesels.
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1999: Z8

Rarely has time aged a car better. A car that seemed irritatingly flawed at the time, now seems like the wonderful, stylish, powerful roadster BMW always intended it to be.
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1999: V12 LMR

Who now remembers that BMW won Le Mans, with a prototype powered by the same engine as the McLaren F1? An incredible achievement with a car already lost in the mists of time.
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2000: E46 M3

This came close to making the final five, and may have done so were the M3 slot not already spoken for. One of BMW’s best engines of any kind, in a superb chassis with a very clever diff. Easy to live with, simply outstanding to drive.
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2001: E53 X5 4.4i

BMW’s first SUV and the first of any kind that could credibly call itself a driver’s car. Porsche followed suit, called theirs the Cayenne and rest is history.
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2003: Z4 3.0i

Almost unbelievably better than a Z3.
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2003: E60 530d

The fifth generation 5 Series, with adventurous Chris Bangle styling. Fast, smooth and frugal.
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2003: E46 M3 CSL

High price and clunky SMG transmission aside, one of M’s finest driving machines. And with a carbon fibre intake manifold, possibly the best sounding BMW of all time.
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2004: X5 E53 4.8iS

At the time BMW swore it would never put an M-badge on a X5 and this was the closest it got. Fast but thirsty.
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2004: E65 760iL

A BMW powered by a V12 engine developed for the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
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2004: 320i ETCC

Won the European Touring Car Championship, catapulted Andy Priaulx into then realms of the tin top superstars.
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2005: E60 M5

Dodgy gearbox, but world class snarling V10 engine and fabulous balance. A superlative driving machine in perhaps the 5’s best shape.
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2005: E90 320d

The car every travelling salesman wanted to drive.
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2005: E63 M6 Coupe

The first to call itself the M6. More hardcore than it looked.
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2006: E91 335d Touring

At the time, the best small estate in the world offering real world performance to scare a junior supercar, but 40mpg without the need for a light foot.
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2006: Z4 M Coupe

Bonkers to look at, bonkers to drive. We loved it.
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2006: E90 320Si

A rare homologation special, a modern junior E30 M3, just 2600 were made, 500 of which came to the UK.
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2006: E70 X5 3.0d

BMW’s first seven seater.
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2007: 635d

Best of the 6s, for this generation at least. Superlative performance combined with frugal diesel engine, giving a 600-mile + range.
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2007: E61 M5 Touring

It is probable that no other car ever combined such a big boot at one end with such an extraordinary engine at the other. 5-litre V10 was the ultimate statement of BMW’s pre-turbo world, one of the greatest motors ever to find its way not just into a BMW, but any road car.
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2007: E82 135i Coupe

At the time, the closest to a 1-series M-car you could get.
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2007: E90 M3 saloon

The one with the 4-litre V8. And the addiction to sideways motoring. The last normally aspirated M3 – hideously thirsty but brimful of character, performance and oversteer.
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2008: E87 123d

A big or, leastways, powerful diesel in a little car. Nothing not to like other than the shape.
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2008: F1.08

The Canadian Grand Prix winner and only BMW to win in F1 to date, and a massively significant car as a result.
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2009: Z4 30i

Best of the non-M Z4s.
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2009: F01 730Ld

Its only crime was not being an S-class.
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2010: E70 X5M

The first M-badged SUV. Not to be confused with the MX-5. Which is a Mazda.
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2010: E91 M3 GTS

More power and less weight, just 150 were built, each with a six figure price tag, largely to prove that BMW could also do a GT3 RS if it wanted to.
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2010: F11 520d Touring

Easy, effective living space. Understated, but excellent.
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2011: 1M Coupe

Ugly as sin but a joy to drive.
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2011: F10 M5

Our least favourite M5, but an M5 nonetheless.
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2011: F25 X3 xDrive 35d

A powerful SUV for pragmatists.
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2011: F30 320d

The legend continues, better than ever.
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2012: F20 M135i

BMW’s most hilarious hot hatch.
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2012: M3 DTM

Won three out of four DTM constructor’s titles between 2012-2015. Enough said.
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2013: E70 X5 M50d

A triple turbo, 371bhp motor, and it was powered by diesel. The most versatile X5 ever.
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2013: F13 640d

Elegant, able and enjoyable.
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2013: F14 X5 xDrive 40d

Among seven seat SUVs, bested only by the Range Rover Sport.
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2013: F13 M6 Gran Coupe

Grace and space in one powerful whole.
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2014: F22 M235i

Cheaper than an M4, better to drive.
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2014: F84 M4

The fastest 3 Series ever. Even though it’s called a 4.
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2014: F80 M3

More practical and, as with previous generations, inexplicably nicer to drive than two door sister.
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2015: F48 X1 20d

BMW aims for a crossover. Scores.
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2016: G12 730d

Finally, a truly credible big BMW.
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THE GREATEST FIVE

5. 2013: BMW i3

Despite the technology and effort applied by BMW, sales of the i3 have not been what they would have liked. But, in time, we will look at the i3 as the car that showed us the way.

Better than that, the i3 is genuinely good to drive and even by BMW standards, it is engaging and entertaining. Its performance and handling making the car chuckable in a way too few cars are today.
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4. 1936: BMW 328

In many ways, the 328 was BMW at its best: pushing at the outer edges of what technology could offer, just like an i8 today. The 328 sowed the seeds for the reputation BMW enjoys to this day.

Its 2-litre engine offered most of the benefits of a twin cam with just one camshaft. It produced a respectable 80bhp output for an engine half as large again and helped it to a top speed of almost 100mph.
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3. 1978: BMW M1

This was the first M-car and it was a total failure. As a car it was a dead end, as a sales proposition a complete flop. And it is wonderful.

Its Giugiaro-penned shape and Campagnolo wheels are design icons in their own right. The engine is a masterpiece but you must keep the revs high, the gears low and make its chassis work. Then it is simply mesmerising.
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2. 2014: BMW i8

True progress requires someone to put their head above the parapet and walk out into what we do not know. BMW’s bravery beggars belief. The i8 is a junior supercar with a 1.5-litre three cylinder engine.

Its hybrid system allows it to cover up to 24 miles in zero emissions silence while also boosting that Mini engine to provide performance worthy of its appearance, yet it will do 40mpg all day long.
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1. 1989: E30 BMW M3

It was always going to be original M3, wasn’t it? Only the i8 challenged it, on the grounds that it’s a new car. The M3 has this ability to grab you by the heart and cling on.

It was and remains a riot to drive. The chassis is simply exquisite, offering race car balance, and more fun on road or track than most cars costing twice as much.

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